Part of the government’s national investment plan is to include a participation promotion division tasked with guiding industries in investing in strategic industries that provide safe and long-term options with decent returns, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday.
Cho made the comments during a meeting with World Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce (WTCC) members at the Executive Yuan.
Taiwan has 176 chambers of commerce worldwide, which is a healthy number, Cho said, adding that President William Lai (賴清德) has often said that he hoped to make Taiwan an economic empire “on which the sun never sets,” with the assistance of the WTCC.
Photo: CNA
Taiwanese businesspeople can meet and speak with others through channels that are otherwise unavailable to the Taiwanese government, laying the groundwork for Taiwanese success, Cho said.
Cho said the government would work more closely with Taiwanese businesspeople to address challenges they might face due to international and political situations.
Commenting on the proposals approved by the Executive Yuan’s Economic Development Committee meeting on Thursday, Cho said the government must provide good investment channels and expedite investment legislation, as well as other incentives, to attract investments by Taiwanese businesspeople.
The government plans to create an Asian Asset Management Center with Taiwanese characteristics over the next six years to effectively use investment funds, while another proposal seeks to foster 200,000 people skilled in artificial intelligence (AI) and attract 120,000 foreign talent to the AI industry, Cho said.
Cho added that the committee’s consultants’ meeting, which is expected to be held next month, hopes to provide new policies for buildings and constructions.
He also urged Taiwanese businesspeople overseas to monitor potential opportunities for collaboration between Taiwan and their resident country.
Overseas Taiwanese businesspeople own an estimated NT$10 trillion (US$305 billion) in funds, WTCC president Lee Tien-chi (李天柒) said.
The problem is not funding, but that the majority of Taiwanese businesspeople made their names in traditional industries and lacked the knowledge of how to invest in high-tech industries, he said.
Lee urged the government to address such issues and resolve tax concerns, adding: “We all hope the government will lead us on the right path.”
Separately, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) wrote on Facebook about the ministry’s and foreign offices’ assistance and support after a recent meeting with the members of the WTCC.
Lin thanked WTCC members for being the face of Taiwan’s economic diplomacy and said their hard work contributed to the nation’s trade and financial accomplishments.
The ministry hopes to implement the president’s “the sun never sets” economic policy, and would continue to close the gap with like-minded countries through economic investments and by signing more bilateral investment agreements, Lin said.
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